【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 te.
　　And so we must forge a new social pact amp。ndash。 to guarantee all our kids the education they need。 to give workers the power to unionize for better wages。 to update the social safety net to reflect the way we live now and make more reforms to the tax code so corporations and individuals who reap the most from the new economy donamp。rsquo。t avoid their obligations to the country thatamp。rsquo。s made their success possible. We can argue about how to best achieve these goals. But we canamp。rsquo。t be placent about the goals themselves. For if we donamp。rsquo。t create opportunity for all people, the disaffection and division that has stalled our progress will only sharpen in years to e.
　　Thereamp。rsquo。s a second threat to our democracy amp。ndash。 one as old as our nation itself. After my election, there was talk of a postracial America. Such a vision, however wellintended, was never realistic. For race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. Iamp。rsquo。ve lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were ten, or twenty, or thirty years ago amp。ndash。 you can see it not just in statistics, but in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum.
　　But weamp。rsquo。re not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do. After all, if every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and undeserving minorities, then workers of all shades will be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. If we decline to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they donamp。rsquo。t look like us, we diminish the prospects of our own children amp。ndash。 because those brown kids will represent a larger share of Americaamp。rsquo。s workforce. And our economy doesnamp。rsquo。t have to be a zerosum game. Last year, ines rose for all races, all age groups, for men and for women.
　　Going forward, we must uphold laws against discrimination amp。ndash。 in hiring, in housing, in education and the criminal justice system. Thatamp。rsquo。s what our Constitution and highest ideals require. But laws alone wonamp。rsquo。t be enough. Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this increasingly diverse nation, each one of us must try to heed the advice of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said “。You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view……。until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”。
　　For blacks and other minorities, it means tying our own struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face amp。ndash。 the refugee, the immigrant, the rural poor, the transgender American, and also the middleaged white man who from the outside may seem like heamp。rsquo。s got all the advantages, but whoamp。rsquo。s seen his world upended by economic, cultural, and technological change.
　　For white Americans, it means acknowledging that the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didnamp。rsquo。t suddenly vanish in the amp。lsquo。60s。 that when minority groups voice discontent, theyamp。rsquo。re not just engaging in reverse racism or practicing political correctness。 that when they wage peaceful protest, theyamp。rsquo。re not demanding special treatment, but the equal treatment our Founders promised.
　　For nativeborn Americans, it means reminding ourselves that the stereotypes about immigrants today were said, almost word for word, about the Irish, Italians, and Poles. America wasnamp。rsquo。t weakened by the presence of these newers。 they embraced this nationamp。rsquo。s creed, and it was strengthened.
　　So regardless of the station we occupy。 we have to try harder。 to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do。 that they value hard work and family like we do。 that their children are just as curious and hopeful and worthy of love as our own.
　　None of this is easy. For too many of us, itamp。rsquo。s bee safer to retreat into our own bubbles, whether in our neighborhoods or college campuses or places of worship or our social media feeds, surrounded by people who look like us and share the same political outlook and never challenge our assumptions. The rise of naked partisanship, increasing economic and regional stratification, the splintering of our media into a channel for every taste amp。ndash。 all this makes this great sorting seem natural, even inevitable. And increasingly, we bee so secure in our bubbles that we accept only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence thatamp。rsquo。s out there.
　　This trend represents a third threat to our democracy. Politics is a battle of ideas。 in the course of a healthy debate, weamp。rsquo。ll prioritize different goals, and the different means of reaching them. But without some mon baseline of facts。 without a willingness to admit new information, and concede that your opponent is making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, weamp。rsquo。ll keep talking past each other, making mon ground and promise impossible.
　　Isnamp。rsquo。t that part of what makes politics so dispiriting? How can elected officials rage about deficits when we propose to spend money on preschool for kids, but not when weamp。rsquo。re cutting taxes for corporations? How do we excuse ethical lapses in our own party, but pounce when the other party does the same thing? Itamp。rsquo。s not just dishonest, this selective sorting of the facts。 itamp。rsquo。s selfdefeating. Because as my mother used to tell me, reality has a way of catching up with you.
　　Take the challenge of climate change. In just eight years, weamp。rsquo。ve halved our dependence on foreign oil, doubled our renewable energy, and led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save this planet. But without bolder action, our children wonamp。rsquo。t have time to debate the existence of climate change。 theyamp。rsquo。ll be busy dealing with its effects: environmental disasters, eco